


Red For Rebirth

by mattiebluebird (ScarlettBond)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Autistic Character, Blood and Violence, Cannibalism, Fantasy, Gen, Gun Violence, Lesbian Character, Magic, Main Character Uses Neopronouns, NaNoWriMo 2020, Neopronouns, Nonbinary Character, Queerplatonic Relationships, but not really?, self-harm for practical reasons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27342253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarlettBond/pseuds/mattiebluebird
Summary: Zia fell to Earth in a ball of fire.(Or: Ten years ago, Zia was kidnapped and dragged into another dimension. When de finally gets home, it’s to find demself in the middle of a war between two magickal races, all while hiding a secret that could get dem and everyone de loves killed if it were discovered.)
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), No Romantic Relationship(s)
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive criticism is appreciated as long as it's polite, but keep in mind this was written for NaNo and it's all about that word count, so if you see info dumps or overly long descriptions, that's probably why.

Zia fell to Earth in a ball of fire.

De hit the ground with the force of a meteor, creating a crater the size of a small car and shattering every bone upon impact. A lesser Zerakihn would’ve been unable to move for some time, most likely even killed, but Zia was far from _lesser_. De healed in a few minutes and, after taking a moment to get used to the new atmosphere, got to dar feet-

-And stumbled.

This body was much, _much_ different than what de was used to -smaller, skinnier and less numerous limbs, darker in color, and covered in sparse hair- but it was also... familiar? Yes, Zia remembered, de had this body before when de lived in Zialah- the Earthrealm. It was smaller, but no less powerful than dar other form. Magick came from within, after all, not from the body itself.

If the spell was done correctly (which Zia is sure it was), de should be only a few miles from the town in which de used to live.

After God-only-knew-how-long, Zia was home.

* * *

In town, de got a lot of odd looks. De didn’t realize _why_ until de ducked into a gas station bathroom and looked in the mirror.

 _Oh, yeah_ , de thought, running dar hands over the chunk of missing flesh that left dar fangs exposed. _I guess that never healed_.

Zia ripped off a piece of dar cloak and tied it around dar face like a bandanna. Even in Zeralah, de’d been encouraged to cover dar face. Zerakihn only rotted when they starved, after all, only starved when they couldn’t hunt, and only the weakest of Zerakihn were ever unable to hunt.

The cashier eyed Zia warily as de reached for the newspaper stack; de cursed in Greater Zeranian when de saw the date, and the cashier flinched. Zia muttered an apology before de left, running down the streets like a Rihkar was at dar heels and not stopping until de reached the house in which de used to live.

It was a small house by most standards, only one floor tall with a yard the size of a postage stamp; the driveway was empty, the paint peeled, the lawn long past overgrown. A ‘For Sale’ sign was planted in the grass, even that battered and faded. It was abandoned, derelict.

Empty.

Ten years. That was what the newspaper de saw at the gas station had said: Zia had been in Zeralah -the Otherrealm, home of monsters- for _ten years_.

Dar family was gone.

* * *

For a while, Zia thought about going to the police and making up a story about kidnapping or claiming complete amnesia, but de knew that was a stupid plan at best and downright suicidal at worst. The Rihkarem had eyes and ears everywhere, and something as public as “child comes home after being missing for ten years” was sure to get dem caught. Zia had planned to see dar family at the very least, just to make sure they were safe and happy, but now even that was impossible.

 _So then… what next?_ De had to lay low; both Rihkarem and Zerakihn would be after dem, if they weren’t already. And, of course, there was the matter of magick-

 _No. If it comes down to it…_ Zia clenched dar fists. _I’d rather fade into kheilah_.

But that was long-term thinking. Right now, shelter and food took priority. De had no money, so buying things was out of the question, although that didn’t bother dem too much. Zia could hunt, and dar body -even in human form- weathered the elements as well as any house.

No, what bothered dem was that de was finally in Zialah, finally _home_ , yet de couldn’t actually _go_ home.

Zia missed living in a house, missed dar family, missed _humans_.

 _But being near them will only put them in danger_ , de reminded demself. _It’s best to stay away, at least for now. If I remember correctly, there are abandoned warehouses-_

Suddenly, a chill ran down dar spine and up dar arms, leaving behind goosebumps where it touched. Zia paused, attempting to place the strange feeling-

 _Click_.

Too late, de realized what the feeling was: a warning, one even the highest ranked Zerakihn feared.

A warning that a Rihkar was near.

“Move another inch and I’ll blow your head off.”

... _Very_ near.

 _Impossible_ , was dar first thought. _I’m 10th rank! There’s no way a Rihkar, even one with very little magick, would be able to get so close without me sensing it._

“Turn around.”

Zia did, if only to get a better look at dar aggressor. Said aggressor was a woman in her early to mid-twenties with light brown skin, black hair in a tight bun and dark eyes narrowed behind cat-eye glasses. A patch of stark white skin covered her left eye, with another surrounding her mouth, and yet another trailing from her fingers up her arms until it disappeared into her sleeves. Pentacles were tattooed in black ink across the back of her hands.

The same hands that were pointing a gun at Zia’s head.

“You know,” the Rihkar said, “I always thought it was weird how often zerans show up at the same places, hunting the same people. Not that I’m complainin’. It makes my job easier. But it begs the question-” She took a step closer, until the gun touched Zia’s forehead, right between dar eyes. “Are you hunting someone in particular? Visiting an old haunt, perhaps?”

 _Zeran is their word for Zerakihn, isn’t it?_ “I- I’m not a zeran,” Zia said, which was technically true. Dar voice was muffled by the fabric covering dar mouth and the words felt heavy and unfamiliar on dar tongue. Zia supposed that was to be expected; de hadn’t spoken English in nearly _ten years_ , after all.

“If you’re going to lie to me, at least make it _original_. I’ve heard that one dozens of times,” the Rihkar said, taking another step forward. Zia was forced to move backwards into an alleyway, out of sight from the street. When de’d arrived on Earth, the horizon had been alight in yellow and orange, but the sun had long since set and it was now dark enough that the shadows hid them both from sight. De wasn’t _scared_ , exactly -from the feel of it, this Rihkar’s magick wasn’t nearly as strong as dar's, and a gun wouldn’t do much- but de was definitely nervous. If this Rihkar knew of dem, then surely so did other Rihkarem.

“So, which is it?” The Rihkar asked. “Returning to the scene of the crime after all these years? Or just passing through?”

“I’m not hunting! Really, I’m not-”

Either the Rihkar was stronger than she looked or Zia was weaker than de thought, because between one moment and the next de was shoved against the wall with a gun practically in dar eyeball.

“ _Answer the question_ ,” the Rihkar hissed, magick raging around her and sending ice crashing through dar veins.

Zia didn’t kill humans -de _didn’t_ \- but if de said “returning”, then the Rihkar would surely take it that way and attempt to kill dem on the spot.

So Zia opened dar mouth and made the biggest mistake of dar life.

“J- just passing through- _but I don’t kill hu-_ ”

**_BANG._ **


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing happened.

Well, nothing happened _physically_. Magickally, Zia’s outermost ward was damaged almost beyond repair. The Rihkar stared at the bullet, now the width of a penny, as it slid down the ward and onto the grass.

There was a moment of tense silence.

“So,” the Rihkar said, as casually as one might discuss the weather. “You’re not a zeran.”

 _Zerakihn can’t use their magick in human form_. Zia mentally kicked demself for being so thoughtless. _Did I give myself away already?_

“That’s what I was trying-”

The Rihkar cut dem off. “But you have Zeran magick.” She tilted her head. “So what are you, and more importantly: how do you fuel your magick?”

Then the Rihkar’s magick did something… odd. Instead of covering Zia’s entire body, it surged to dar head. _What is she- oh_. _Is she trying to read my mind?_ De thought, squinting up at the Rihkar. _She must be more powerful than I thought to even attempt that, though her technique is… clumsy_.

Mental magick was extremely difficult to master. Dar captors had been skilled at it, so Zia developed a habit of creating and maintaining ten mental shields throughout the day.

It seemed that habit would come in handy.

“I…” Zia swallowed and focused on making dar outermost mental shields radiate fear, confusion, and honesty; in dar mind, the shields flashed clashing shades of lime green and yellow. There was so much de couldn’t or shouldn’t or just flat out didn’t _want_ to say, especially when the wrong answers might get dem killed, but all the best lies had truth woven into them. “This magick was gifted to me.” _Technically true._

The Rihkar must’ve believed dem, because she asked, “By who?”

“A zeran.” _True._ “I don’t know s- its name.” _A lie._ _Honesty, fear, honesty..._

“Why? Did you make a deal with one?” She held out the hand not holding a gun and fire spouted from her palm, bright gold and flickering. “I hate zerans as much as the next Rihkar, but people who willingly make _deals_ with them? God, those are even _worse_.”

“No! I didn’t- I don’t know _why_ de did it!” Zia rushed to explain ( _a lie; honesty, honesty, honesty!_ ). Rihkarem had a reputation for burning Zerakihn to cinders. “I was… taken.” _True._

“...Taken? ” The Rihkar sounded skeptical, even as her magick pushed against dar shields. Zia nodded. “Why?” She demanded. “What would a zeran want with you?”

“I told you, I don’t know!” _Lie (honesty, fear, confusion,_ honesty). “They just _took_ me…” De trailed off; creating convincing lies and doing magick at the same time was exhausting. Zia was pretty sure if de kept talking de’d reveal something de shouldn’t.

The Rihkar untensed as the fire in her palm faded to a cooler red. Her mental attack receded a bit, though Zia didn’t dare let dar guard down. ”For how long?”

“Ten years.” _True (sadness; light blue_ ).

The Rihkar squinted at dem as if trying to guess dar age. “So you would’ve been-”

“Ten years old, yes.” _Also true._

“Christ,” she said. She finally released Zia from her hold, extinguishing the fire in her palm and taking a step back, though her mental attack stayed the same. “I’m so sorry. Did it..? I mean, is your family-”

“They’re gone.” _True._ Zia looked down, hands clenching around nothing. “They…” _May not be dead but I have no idea where they are, and even if I did I can’t talk to them without putting them in danger._ “They’re gone,” de whispered. _Honesty, honesty, honesty..._

There was a brief pause before the Rihkar’s magick _left_ , leaving behind nothing but a slight chill and the goosebumps on dar arms to prove it ever existed. Zia still didn’t let dar guard down, just in case. “So you don’t have a place to stay?”

Zia shook dar head ( _true_ ).

“And I’m guessing the zeran that took you is going to want you back?”

Zia nodded ( _true_ ) _._

The Rihkar sighed a long, world-weary sigh. “I run a safe house that’s undetectable to zerans,” she said. Zia’s head snapped up. _Is she..?_ “You can stay there until the zeran magick fades away.” _She is!_ De’d been fully prepared to fight for dar life in case the Rihkar tried to haul dem away to be interrogated or experimented on. The fact that she _wasn’t_ went against everything Zia had been told about Rihkarem.

 _Granted, everything I know about them comes from Zerakihn, so I may be a little biased_.

“Come on,” the Rihkar said, holding out her hand. Zia stared at it, confused, until she let it drop to her side with a dry laugh. “Yeah, I guess that’s fair.” She looked at Zia and grimaced. “Geez, you’re covered in blood. Here.” She rummaged inside her trench coat and pulled out a rag and a thermos. “Use these to wipe yourself off.”

As Zia worked on washing the blood from dar face, the Rihkar said, “I’m Adrianna, by the way.”

De paused. No one had called dem by dar human name -dar _true_ name- in ten years. “My name’s Zia,” de said ( _true_ ).

“Nice to meet you, Zia.”

Zia let demself lose focus ( _gratitude; butter yellow and warm_ ).

* * *

“So,” the Rihkar - _Adrianna_ \- said. “You must be pretty confused right now, huh?”

“Not really.” When Adrianna gave dem a look de took to mean ‘ _continue_ ’, de explained, “They… taught me. Not much, but- they taught me. I know what a Rihkar is, and how magick works, and how to hunt, and how to read and write Zeranian and do basic math.”

“That’s good. Of course, if you want to re-integrate into human society, you’ll ne-”

“I don’t,” Zia interrupted. “Want to re-integrate into human society, I mean.” _If I can’t go back to my family and the Rihkarem won’t harm me, then there’s no reason to_.

“Rihkarem society, then? Either way, you’ll need at least a highschool education. We can get you started on that, but…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

“But what?”

“Nothing, just-” She waved a hand. “Just thinking.” Before Zia could ask ‘ _about what?_ ’, she stopped and said, “We’re here.”

Zailem, the ways between realms, were hard to find and even harder to make, but Rihkarem and Zerakihn had been around for thousands of years. They’d had plenty of time to carve zailem out and mold them to their liking. Adrianna’s safe house was hidden inside one; a smaller one by the feel of it, but so well hidden and protected it was impressive nonetheless.

“I’ll need some of your blood to get you through the wards,” Adrianna said.

Zia drew dar arms closer protectively. Blood wasn’t something to be _given away_ ; it was personal and held as much, if not _more_ sway over you than your full name.

“Or your hair,” she amended. “Something unique to you.”

“What about my magick?”

Adrianna tilted her head. “That might work. Your magick is, uh… _strange_. Cooler than a zeran’s but warmer than a human’s, and it doesn’t move like either.” She reached into her coat and pulled out a small, clear stone. Quartz, probably. It held charges well. “Here,” she held it out, “Channel some of your magick into this.”

Zia cupped the quartz in dar hands, closed dar eyes, and imagined dar magick flowing into it in a steady stream. When de felt it was full, de stopped the flow and opened dar eyes, passing it over to Adrianna. Whether the quartz was smokier than it’d been before or de was just imagining it, de couldn’t say for sure.

“Wait here,” Adrianna said. “I’ll just step through, do a little spell, and then come back for you, okay?”

Zia nodded, and just like that, Adrianna was gone.

It took only a minute or two for de to feel the wards shift. They were still tense and wary -they’d probably been made to shield from zeran magick, which Zia did technically have- but not as hostile or concealing as before.

A few seconds later Adrianna appeared. “Come on.” She held out her hand. At Zia’s hesitant look, she added, “It’ll be easier if I help.”

Physical contact made all types of magick easier, including mental magick. From what de’d seen, this Rihkar was nowhere near skilled or powerful enough to break through dar shields with or without touching dem, but it was still best to be cautious. Zia imagined dar outermost shields flashing images of light and tangled emotion like a TV screen, then grabbed Adrianna’s hand.

The earth itself fell silent as she wrapped the zailem around them. Where Rihkar magick felt cold and Zerakihn magick hot, the zailem’s older, much more powerful magick felt like buzzing numbness, similar to the static-y sensation you got when you sat in the same position for too long. As de’d felt, it was wary- Zia held still as it creeped up and down and inside dem, inspecting dem like a thief being put through a metal detector. The air around them shimmered, warped, and for a moment it seemed all of reality broke apart. When it reformed, colors and shapes slotting themselves into place like a jigsaw puzzle, they were no longer standing in the woods beside a dusty back road, but in a field of knee-high grass with a pitch black sky overhead.

Chills ran up and down Zia’s spine, mixing unpleasantly with the lingering static. The cold seemed to emanate from a building in the center of the field. The building was a mix of new and old, stone blocks stacked right next to sheer modernist cement walls. From what Zia could sense, at least three Rihkarem were in the building. Zia supposed de should’ve expected that; Adrianna did say she ran a _safe house_ , after all, and what use was a safe house with only one person?

Still, de was surprised. _How powerful are these other Rihkarem?_ De thought as de followed Adrianna to the house. _What if she’s led me right into a trap?_ Zia didn’t think that was very likely, but nonetheless tensed as Adrianna unlocked the front door and motioned for Zia to walk in. Magick at the ready, de did.

The common room (or, at least, what Zia assumed was the common room) was dimly lit by a small chandelier that looked like it’d seen its better days fifty years ago. Other than that, it was more-or-less normal based on what de remembered of Zialah: it had a large couch, a coffee table with a small but crowded altar, a TV, and several book shelves.

Sitting on the couch were three people: a dark-haired Asian man dressed all in black, a woman with long red hair and rectangular glasses dressed in a myriad of bright colors, both of whom seemed about Zia’s age, and a dark-skinned teenager with her hair in a braid and a thick book in her hand.

The man narrowed his eyes at Zia the moment de was through the door. "You told us not to panic, so I'm not panicking," he said. "But why does she have zeran magick?"

“Actually,” Zia muttered. “It’s ‘de’. 10th rank zerans use de/dem/dar pronouns.”

In retrospect, de admitted that might not have been the best time to bring up dar pronouns, but de couldn’t help it- in Zeralah pronouns were about power and respect, not gender. Each rank had its own set, and though there was a rank-neutral option, asking for another’s rank was still expected. Hearing a Rihkar so _casually_ do something so disrespectful and belittling made Zia’s skin crawl.

There was a pause, then Adrianna fixed each of the Rihkarem with the _'one step out of line and I'll eat you'_ look and said, “ _De_ was kidnapped by zerans and they gave... dem-?” She looked at Zia, who nodded. “-magick. We don't know why. De will be staying with us until it wears off. Any further interrogations can wait until tomorrow. Got it?"

The three answered with various affirmations, some more reluctantly than others. “Good,” Adrianna said. “Guys, this is Zia, Zia, this is Ashe,” she gestured to the man, “Ember,” she gestured to the red haired woman, “And Maisy,” she gestured to the teenager, who waved. Zia waved back. “Ember, can you show Zia around, maybe get he- dem something to eat? I have to file a report.”

“Sure,” Ember said, and woah, that was definitely a guy’s voice. He smiled and stood up. “Are you hungry?” He asked.

In Zeralah, dar food options had been… limited. At first they gave dem cooked animal meat and the occasional fruit, but eventually they limited dem to eating only what de could catch on dar own. Zia couldn’t even remember the last time de’d seen a vegetable.

“Do you have any apples?” De asked. “I’d love an apple.”

As it turned out, they did have apples, and were happy to give dem one. Zia reached up to take the cloth off dar face, then hesitated. In Zeralah, dar disfigurement was a sign of weakness. Here, people stared at it. Was the stigma surrounding it the same? If Ember saw it, would he laugh? Call dem pathetic? Tell Adrianna and have dem thrown out?

“Uh…” De said, letting dar hand fall. “Can you-”

Ember seemed to understand. “Sure," he said. "Just call me when you're finished." He left dem to eat the apple in peace.

As Zia ate, de heard one of them -probably Ashe- follow Adrianna into the hall. “‘Kidnapped by zerans’?” He hissed. “You really buy that? If she - _de_ , whatever- were really taken by zerans, they would’ve killed or bred dem, not _given dem magick-_ ”

“I _saw_ Zia use dar magick while in human form,” Adrianna cut him off. “Zerans can’t do that.”

“Yeah, but-”

“De isn’t lying.”

“How do you know that?” He demanded.

“I know.”

“But how-”

“Ashe,” Adrianna hissed. “I _know_.”

 _She probably means her mental magick_ , Zia thought, taking a bite of dar apple. _Which means my false mental state felt natural to her. Good._

A pause. “Oh,” Ashe said. “Well, it’s still suspicious, isn’t it?”

“I guess. Now, I really _do_ have a report to file, so-” De heard her walk down the hallway and out of dar hearing range.

Zia fastened the cloth back around dar head and stepped out of the kitchen. “Can you show me to a room?” De asked Ember.

“Sure!” He walked down the hall, Zia following close behind. “Adrianna’s room is in the other wing,” he said. “This is Maisy’s room.” He nodded to the door on their right. “Ashe and I are one floor up. Do you want a room on the first, second, or third floor? The third floor is empty,” he added.

“Third floor,” de said immediately. De knew the privacy might come in handy at some point.

Zia chose the room on the left farthest from the staircase, if only because the distance made dem feel better. The room was bare, with only a bed in one corner and an empty bookshelf on the other, but Zia didn’t mind. De’d slept in much, much worse conditions.

De knelt beside the bed and set down everything de’d managed to smuggle out of Zeralah. It wasn’t much, only dar clothes and whatever could fit in them: a dark green cloak, dar athame, some crystals, a few herb bundles, and several pages torn out of spellbooks and dar own grimoire.

 _Ikmer_ _ō would be furious if sōh knew I’d ripped up sōher books_ , Zia thought, then shook dar head. It wouldn’t do dem any good to dwell.

One grimoire page had a sigil drawn on it made of complex, curving lines mixed with severe edges. It was this page that Zia took out, setting clear quartz on each corner to pin it to the floor.

In magick, everything mattered. Every color, every stone, every line, every word spoken and sentence thought had to be chosen with precision and care. Zia had spent weeks agonizing over this spell doing just that.

The sigil, drawn in red for rebirth, brought prosperity and new opportunities. The quartz brought power and clarity. As for the incantation…

Zia took a deep breath and said in English:

_Let my past fall behind me_

_And the path to my future show clear_

_Let me earn back what was taken_

_And find what is mine_

_Let the rain wash over me…_

De took the athame and cut dar palm.

In Zeralah, the rain was red, and each scarlet storm brought forth new life. Blood represented the Self -represented _dem_ , Dezera Zia Sah- and red represented life and health and rebirth.

_Let me be made anew_

The sigil glowed as dar blood hissed like acid, the paper evaporating until nothing of it remained. Zia gathered the crystals, pages, athame, and herb bundles, cast a glamour over them, and pushed them under the bed.

Then -exhausted, drained, and uneasy- Zia slept.

And for the first time in ten years, de dreamed.


End file.
